[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 78 (Tuesday, June 14, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1218]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       COMMENDING MS. ALMA OLIVAS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. HEATHER WILSON

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 13, 2005

  Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the 
House's attention to the important work of one of my constituents, Alma 
Olivas, and her recent selection for the nation's highest community 
health leadership distinction.
  Ms. Olivas was one of the 10 outstanding individuals from across the 
country chosen to receive this year's Robert Wood Johnson Community 
Health Leadership award. The award also comes with a $105,000 grant for 
Ms. Olivas to use to further her important efforts. Ms. Olivas works 
with the Coalition for Community Healthcare Access, which helps poor 
and uninsured people access health care in Bernalillo County, New 
Mexico.
  A persistent and courageous advocate for the uninsured, Ms. Olivas 
has been working to increase access to health care from an early age. 
Since she was seven years old, when she moved from Mexico to 
Albuquerque, Ms. Olivas has served as an interpreter for extended 
family members and neighbors. But it was her grandmother's devastating 
encounter with the medical system that made it her life's work.
  Her uninsured grandmother was repeatedly denied surgical treatment 
for a broken hip because she could not afford to pay half of the cost 
of the surgery upfront. Ms. Olivas became a fierce advocate, learning 
how to negotiate the health care system on her grandmother's behalf and 
eventually winning her the treatment she needed.
  Since working with the Coalition for Community Healthcare Access, Ms. 
Olivas has increased the availability of interpreter services, improved 
financial assistance for low-income people, and raised community 
awareness of the health care problems of immigrants and the uninsured.
  Mr. Speaker, I wish to take the opportunity to commend Ms. Olivas for 
her tremendous work and to congratulate her as a recipient of the 
Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership award.

                          ____________________